Natalie Marcotullio, Head of Growth, Navattic
Natalie Marcotullio is the Head of Growth and Operations at Navattic, where she focuses on helping SaaS companies give their prospects a better buying experience. She has a background in SEO and digital marketing for B2B sales and marketing SaaS. Over the years, her focus has shifted to full-funnel marketing and improving the digital buyer experience.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
I am most active on LinkedIn, but for personal use Twitter. I like LinkedIn for work because I get to meet a lot of interesting people in my field who I would never have met otherwise.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
I am currently the Head of Growth. I am a team of one, so I'm focused on the entire marketing funnel - from when a person first interacts with our brand to enhance their experience as a user.
My background is in SEO, and I have recently been focused on creating differentiated content. One way I've been thinking about this is how I can organically incorporate our product into our content in an educational and helpful way for the visitor.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
I enjoy being more of a generalist and working cross-departmentally. That's why I love growth. While my background is more traditional marketing, growth gives me the opportunity to touch all parts of the customer journey and be way more involved with the entire lifecycle.
Traditional marketing tends to focus on the top of the funnel, but with growth, I get to look at the entire funnel and focus on the part that needs the most attention.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
When you get advice, always think about who is giving it and their perspective. Of course, listening to everyone's feedback is important, but everyone has a different way of approaching problem-solving based on their background and skill set.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
General curiosity and problem-solving. I love complex problems and figuring out ways to improve people's day-to-day by solving them.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
When I left my last job, my kindest compliments were on my positive attitude. I got feedback that I would always bring a smile to people's faces and bring my best self to work. I'm most proud of keeping that attribute in my professional and personal life and my goal of always brightening someone else's day.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
Generally in person, but any form works. Whether it is a networking event or just messaging someone on LinkedIn, I love meeting new people in general.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Creativity and curiosity. I'm constantly questioning why things are the way they are and if we are answering a problem correctly. I think as a marketer; you always have to challenge your assumptions and try to understand your audience. Curiosity helps me do that. Then creativity lets me think of new, unique ways to solve that pain.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
This is a clique, but failure is part of the process. Growth is all about experiments, and most of those fail. So, it is important to figure out why it failed and try something new afterwards.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
I don't know of many female founders in B2B SaaS, so I generally find them very inspiring. One, in particular, is Melanie Fellay, founder of Spekit. After seeing her on a webinar, I reached out to her on LinkedIn, and she took the time to speak with me about being a female founder in the B2B SaaS world.
I admire Pocket Sun, the co-founder of SoGal Ventures in the VC world. SoGal is helping address the funding gaps by investing in underestimated founders, undercapitalized geographies, and underserved problems.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
Art, running and spending time with loved ones. I also live in NYC, so exploring the city and enjoying its culture (and the food scene).
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
Navattic was started during the pandemic, so it definitely had a positive effect. We've been able to put together an awesome distributed team, which wouldn't be possible without a remote-friendly culture.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I am part of a mentor program called SV Academy, which offers a weight week training program to help anyone get into tech sales. I've mentored a handful of times and highly recommend anyone in tech sales to get involved. The students are fantastic, and amazing to see their varied experiences and backgrounds.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
I've always worked in startups, and I always tell someone who wants to work at a startup to prove that you are a self-taught learner or doer. The best way to show you'd be successful at a startup is to learn a skill on your own and then go out and apply that skill in the real world.
You're often teaching yourself at a startup, and I think that is the number one trait startups should look for in a candidate.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Fear of failure is obvious, but I also don't think we are rewarded enough for failing. Businesses need to be ok with failure in order for great ideas and learnings to come from those failures.
Also, businesses should reframe failures as experiments and make sure to have to debrief sessions on why they worked or did not work.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
Not sure if this is a quote, but the idea of "if you put good out into the world, then it will come back to you."
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I'm a big fan of sustainable clothing companies like Everlane and Reformation. I think both have such a clear understanding of their audience and have been able to create a whole brand based on sustainability rather than it being a side thought.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Success, I think, is when you are universally respected and well-liked. Even if that hurts your career a bit in the short term by not being as aggressive or spending extra time helping others, I think it all balances out in the long run. That is also the big lesson. Generally, goodwill and acts of kindness come back around in ways you would never expect.